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Pat Conroy dies: ‘I found life much harder than I thought it would be’

Pat Conroy, author of “Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini,” has died at age 70 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. In 2012, the Palm Beach Post’s former Books Editor Scott Eyman talked to the author about his writing career and the difficulties he faced.

Some excerpts:

Does success change everything?

Yes, it does. It ruins everything. I got to know this too late, but it has damaged me, my brothers and sisters, my children. My oldest daughter, Jessica, was in third grade, when she introduced me to a friend, Suzy. “I’d like to introduce you to Pat Conroy,” she said. And I had to tell her, “Daddy. You’re introducing daddy.” America seems to want success so much, and all it does is complicate things.

I found a couple of quotes of yours I’d like to ask you about: “The choices I didn’t make are almost as ruinous as the ones I did.”

That sounds like me. I have no idea where I wrote that, but it sure has a Conroy ring to it. Here’s what I’ve found: I have found life much harder than I thought it was going to be. I’m constantly amazed by how difficult the passage is. You don’t know where it’s going to get you; you make decisions and you can’t know if they’re good or horrible. Because I’m an emotional man, I make decisions based on emotion, and I screwed my life up. Do not talk to me about women. My second marriage was the worst since Adam and Eve. I walked into it with open eyes, and it nearly ruined my whole life.